Policy paper

Changes to the FCA’s cancellation of authorisation process

A statement on the government’s intention to streamline the FCA’s process for cancelling the authorisation of firms no longer carrying out FCA-regulated activities.

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Details

The FCA’s regulatory population has significantly expanded since the establishment of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). This means the current process for cancelling a firm’s authorisation is no longer sufficient to allow the FCA to quickly cancel a firm’s authorisation where they suspect they are no longer carrying out authorised activity and remove these firms from the Financial Services Register.

In order to streamline this process and allow the FCA to more quickly remove inactive firms from the Financial Services Register, the government intends to provide an additional process through which the FCA can cancel the authorisation of firms no longer carrying on FCA-regulated activities.

This statement sets out how the new procedure will work in practice, including the situations in which it can be triggered. Whilst this is not a formal consultation, the government would welcome views on these intended changes.

Published 20 July 2020